The Healthy Management of Reality - Stanford University

Preface: The Origins of This BookEver since I can remember, I have been intrigued by the question of how tolive life in a good way. An important element of this search has been to movetoward this goal while taking into account the potential and the limitations ofhuman beings. I am now a psychologist, a student of what is called "the science ofmind and behavior." Since 1970, when I took my first university course onpsychology at Stanford University, I have studied with great interest whatscientists and practitioners have written about human development and humanfunctioning. I have read about how our thoughts and actions affect our feelings,and how these three elements can lead to satisfaction or despair.As a senior, during the academic year 1971-1972, I had the great fortune ofworking on my senior thesis under the supervision of Albert Bandura. His writingson personal agency and self-efficacy provide the foundations for the ideaspresented in this small book. For those interested in examining the originalsources of these ideas, I recommend Bandura’s books Principles of behaviormodification (1969), Social Learning Theory (1977), Social foundations of thoughtand action: A social cognitive theory (1986), Self-efficacy: The exercise of control(1997), and his 2001 Annual Review of Psychology chapter “Social cognitivetheory: An agentic perspective.”In 1972, as I was beginning to work toward my doctorate in clinicalpsychology at the University of Oregon, I came across the concept of theprevention of mental disorders. James G. Kelly, one of my mentors duringgraduate school, encouraged my interests in this area. Those who write aboutprevention argue that the mental health professions spend most of their timetreating individuals who are already suffering from often debilitating emotionalHMOR.July2005.Muñoz.doc 5